Hyatt Hotels is dipping its toes into the sharing economy by partnering with the 'Airbnb for the rich'

One
of OneFineStay's properties on Boulevard Saint Germain in
Paris.OneFineStay

It looks like the hotel industry might be warming up to the
home-sharing economy, or at least trying to play nice with it.

Hyatt Hotels is entering into a pilot program with Onefinestay
that will let house renters freshen up at the Hyatt Regency
London - The Churchill if they arrive early for their
rental, according to a
report from travel news site Skift.

British startup Onefinestay, often referred to
as the Airbnb
for the Rich, lets luxury homeowners rent out their
apartments while they're away. CEO Greg Marsh
previously told Business Insider that the typical
customer is: "An American family coming from a coastal city in
the US to stay in a 3 bedroom house in Notting Hill for 10 days
over the summer."

Should that family arrive early, they'll now have a place to
refresh or store their bags, thanks to the Hyatt pilot program.

This program isn't the companies first foray together. Hyatt was
an investor in the home-sharing startup's latest
$40 million round in June, but Marsh
told Skift that the partnership has progressed beyond that.
Neither Hyatt nor Onefinestay could be reached for comment.

A pilot program that involves one London hotel is not a
major move, but it is the first sign of a hotel company being
willing to collaborate with the burgeoning home-sharing
economy.

A partnership with the hotels industry, which
have loyalty programs and name brand recognition, could be a
boost to the nascent home-sharing industry, especially as these
companies try to encroach on the lucrative corporate travel
market.

Airbnb is making a go of wooing business travelers on its
own, but it's still in the beginning steps.
It announced yesterday that it had overhauled its business
program to make it easier for employers to expense reports and
track employee's rentals, although that won't solve the
problem of getting business users to choose Airbnb over a
traditional hotel in the first place.